


Wozniak's Test

by ridkey



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-21 21:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9566159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ridkey/pseuds/ridkey
Summary: There are no normal days at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. They learned that the hard way after Fazbear's Fright burned down. But now it looks like the deadly night shifts are a thing of the past. Yet, something is off about their first finished animatronic. Is TLB the only one that can see it?Part of the P87lore





	

**Author's Note:**

> Depending on how you look at it, there could be at least one ship in this. Only one reader saw it, but it's relevant so I'm warning you now. Feel free to guess the ship in the comments ;)

She slammed the door open with her shoulder and staggered out into the hall. Her brain was still foggy - would be until she talked to someone. The overhead lights were dim. The hallway felt unremarkable. She’d been living in the workshop for over a year but some days, she didn’t recognize the place when she woke up.

Blurry arrows on the wall came into focus, marked with Freddy Fazbear’s smiling face. She squinted at the text. It took a few tries to read them.

_“Workshops”_

_“Security office”_

_“Rec room”_

_“Showers”_

That’s right, she remembered. The rec room was downstairs.

It had coffee.

She stumbled down the hall to the right.

The Bonnie team leader didn’t think of herself as needing caffeine in the morning. She wouldn’t have lasted if she did. Caffeine, coffee, sometimes it made your brain worse. Drinking coffee was a good sign in her family. It was a sign you were still attached to the things you loved. That’s why she drank it. She always chose love over death.

Helping her wake up was a bonus.

Five quick, infamous guitar notes sang from her pocket. She slumped against the wall with a thud and fumbled for her phone. The screen burned her eyes. She read the text through her eyelashes.

_“Isn’t it a bit early to get up?”_

Boss. She looked at the ceiling, then behind her. Of course. He was camped out in the security room again, the old fart. There was a security camera guarding every hallway intersection. The old man was looking right at her.

She triple-checked to make sure her message before sending it.

_“Not really. It’s past six, isn’t it?”_

At least he couldn’t get on her for breaking curfew.

After sending the message, she paused.

_“You get any sleep?”_

He sent a reply an instant after she sent her second comment.

_“Well, if you say so. You’ll want to get that error in Bonnie’s processor finished ASAP. Considering who’s waiting for him and all.”_

It took her three tries to understand him and then she wished she hadn’t. She cringed. Did the boss have to bring _him_ up?

The time she took comprehending his message was enough for him to reply to hers.

_“Yeah, I’d say about seven hours in total. Pretty good for my standards.”_

She raised her eyes from her phone and stared at the camera. Deliberately, she raised her eyebrows. In total? How many times did he wake up last night?

Well, who was she to talk. At least no one was staying up all night. After everything they’d done, that was a blessing.

It was easier to write.

_“I’m gonna get started on the coffee. Talk to you in the rec room. Say hi to my friend for me.”_

She gave the camera a wave and walked down the hall, already feeling more awake.

There was always a little bit of dread in the morning. She enjoyed the beginning of the day, yeah. Sunlight stretching through the windows, casting pink and violet over the walls. Birds singing. Cars outside. Daybreak was a time for relief. Day meant survival even before she’d gotten her dream job. Daytime said, _See? You made it. You lasted through the night and didn’t give in to your nightmares. That’s good._ **_You’re_ ** _good._

But she couldn’t relax now. She had to stay alert, and keep her head up. Ignore the pins pricking up her arms and legs. Ignore the questions in the background noise of her mind. _Who will you find down the next hall? Who will be staring back at you this time?_

The nightmares didn’t stop with the sunrise anymore. Sometimes she thought the day was worse. Nighttime was predictable, nighttime was manageable. They’d gotten the night down to a science. The next time it happened, they were ready. But the day was different. In the day, only the dangerous ones were awake.

A scent drifted through the air. She breathed it in deep. Coffee. Strong, bitter, nostalgic. Home in a cup.

The boss must’ve gotten impatient. All engineers considered it their lifeblood, and he was a night owl. But that wasn’t like him. The only maker he trusted was the one he kept in the security office. Even though that room  was connected to the rec room, it was too far away for her to smell from a few halls down.

He would’ve woken her up if the machines went off in the middle of the night. Or her friend would’ve. _Someone_ would’ve told her. And after all that had gone down, they didn’t use presets. But there was no one else awake. There were three people on the payroll living in the Workshop, and the Freddy Team Leader waited until the last minute to get up. There was no one else that could…

No, that wasn’t true. She kept forgetting someone.

She opened the last baby gate and stepped off the stairs. The scent of fresh coffee drifted through the open rec room door. She took another breath. Vanilla, hazelnut, caramel, sugar - everything they locked up tight at night, set out and ready. She stepped closer. Tried to make her footsteps softer. Light spread into the hallway through the door. It was the pale blue-white of the lights over the shrine.

Did she need to be afraid? She couldn’t tell herself she wasn’t. Couldn’t tell herself to run away either. Just because it was out of the pattern didn’t mean it was lethal.

And the door was right there. Time waiting was time wasted. She stuck her head through the door, and saw him.

He looked over his shoulder, and saw her.

She blinked.

“... Freddy?”

The brown animatronic turned around. He beamed at her, hours of work shifting below the suit to let him smile at her.

“Good morning, TLB! You’re up a bit early today.”

“I…” Still staring, TLB stepped into the room. “Good-Good morning. I mean.” She smiled at him through her confusion. “Good- I mean, yeah. I-I guess I am.”

Freddy Fazbear’s smile changed from cheerful to knowing.

“You should go back to bed.” He was coming closer. “You sound tired.”

“I’m not that tired!” Well, not anymore she wasn’t. “I was just surprised to see you. You’re not in here very often.” Not in the day, at least.

Freddy’s smile faded. 

“You don’t see much of me at all.”

TLB looked away. She wasn’t _trying_ to avoid him. She didn’t hate him. It was just hard to wrap her head around what they’d done. Freddy Fazbear was back, after thirty years of existing only in memories and movies. And he was better than before, smarter, stronger, _alive-_

“Well, if you’re going to stay up…” A heavy, soft hand touched her shoulder. TLB flinched. She looked up at Freddy. He was smiling down at her. “How about some coffee? I made plenty.”

“Coffee?” Hold up. “You made…” TLB turned to the shrine. The track lights shone down onto the it. The machines were brewing. The cabinet doors were shut but everything they used was where they liked them. Even the coffee mugs were set out.

“Holy crap, Freddy.” She looked back at him, smiling. “You did all this?”

“Mmmhm!” Freddy nodded. “I wanted to thank you. I mean, you’ve done so much. You’ve rebuilt me, you’re rebuilding my friends, you’re even bringing back my restaurant. It’s the least I can do. And it’s not like it’s hard. You programmed me to do this.”

“True.” But still amazing. And wrong, the child in her whispered. This was Freddy Fazbear. He was one of her heroes, her idols. And he’d made them coffee? Somehow, wasn’t he better than that?

But that was irrational. They had wanted him to know how to make coffee. And beds. And dusting. Doing laundry, setting tables, washing dogs, not that he’d ever need to do that. They put all those things just because they could, or because a scientist said they could. Of course he’d put his knowledge to use. Why was she surprised?

Then again, she was surprised that they’d survived long enough to turn Freddy proper on.

“It smells amazing.” She moved toward the shrine.

Freddy stepped in front of her.

“Let me make your first cup,” he said.

TLB blinked. “Uh- really?”

“Yeah! I know how you like it.”

“You do?” How? She’d never made coffee in front of him before. Who did he ask?

“F told me.”

Well… That explained that. TLF would tell his favorite animatronic anything, no matter how weird a question it was. TLB raised her hands in surrender and retreated to the table in the center of the room. Freddy waited for her to sit down and look at him before picking up her mug.

He did know how she liked it. More than that, he knew how she liked to make it. Creamer first, then sugar and cinnamon, and then add the coffee and caramel sauce. She didn’t need to see the cup to know what was going in it. Everything was visibly in his reach.

This should bother her more than it did. Maybe she was just too tired to be uncomfortable, a kind of tired that coffee and sleep couldn’t fix. After dedicating half her life to the FFP fandom, of course she applied to join the new run. It’d almost been a joke - she never thought she’d get it. But she did.

She shouldn’t have applied in the first place. Her brother was right. The spirits hadn’t left. They just got stronger, and angrier, with time.

The angry soul within Freddy was sleeping. TLB felt it in him just like she heard Freddy humming as he made her coffee. They hadn’t told Freddy anything yet. Why they locked their doors at night, why it was taking so long to finish his friends, why the boss was so paranoid. That was her job. She was the medium, after all. But could he handle it?

“There!” Freddy said. “That should be just right!”

Freddy approached the table. TLB sat up. His clean paws sat the mug on the table in front of her. She looked into his eyes. They shone with a light distinct from the ghost inside him. He stepped away, hands behind his back.

“Go on, try it!”

Part of her melted. Truth was, Freddy wasn’t her favorite. He held a special place in every fan’s heart, but Toy Bonnie had grabbed her attention from the get-go. But Freddy’s face made her question her childhood choice.

The mug was hot. That was always her favorite part about it, the warmth sinking down to her bones. The coffee could be bad, but if it was hot, it was drinkable. She raised the mug to her lips, and the world slipped away. The animatronic watching her disappeared as the heat sunk into her. TLB closed her eyes, and tasted it.

Strong coffee, apple creamer, sugar, cinnamon, caramel. Just the way she liked it.

TLB swallowed, letting the warmth drift down her throat, and opened her eyes. Freddy was still watching her. His smile was eager, limbs stiff with anticipation.

“Well?” He said.

She set down the mug.

“That’s great.” Great? No. Perfect. “I kind of want to hug you right now.” Aw, crap. Now she’d made things awkward. And it was going so well, too.

Freddy didn’t seem to mind, though. Maybe it was her imagination, but from the way his brow furrowed, the way his hand rested under his chin…

No way. He was not actually-

“Well, sure!” Holy shit. “Why not? It’s not like you’re not gonna break me.”

For a second she was frozen, gaping at the animatronic. But then he opened his arms and every part of her went _yes._

He grunted as she slammed against him. She wrapped her arms around his upper torso and rested her cheek against his fur. He was warm, just like the coffee. Machinery hummed beneath the suit. His arms locked around her, and she relaxed into him. Her eyes closed. She squeezed, and so did he.

TLB smiled. She’d seen a lot of bad shit since joining rebuild. She’d seen the evil of the old run, almost lost her relationship with her big brother, and had spent more all-nighters focused on survival than building the animatronics. But this? Oh, this. This was every FFP fangirl’s dream come true. And it was worth it. Worthitworthitworthitworthitworthitworthitworthitworthitworthitworthit-

“Uh… B?”

TLB opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder. From across the room, still in the doorway, her boss gawked at them. He looked from her face to Freddy’s, and tensed. Freddy tensed too. She glanced up at the animatronic. His eyes were narrowed, jaw set in a way he only did with the boss. The boss squared his shoulders.

"Good morning, Freddy."

“Morning, Mike.” Freddy’s tone was even.

Mr. Schmidt, as he hated being called, looked between her and Freddy. He almost looked his age today. His skin was still too tight for someone close to fifty, and his hair hadn’t fallen out yet, but the few wrinkles near his eyes seemed darker, and the gray in his hair stood out in the light from the shrine. He hadn’t shaved yet either. Had he left his office at all last night?

“Am I interrupting something?” The boss said.

“No.” Freddy's arms fell away from her. “I just make good coffee, that's all.”

“Really?” The boss didn't sound impressed. “Huh.” He looked over the shrine. “I see you've made enough for everyone.”

“I told you I would,” and finally there was a bit of pride in Freddy’s voice. “I didn't burn it or the workshop either.”

The boss chuckled. “That's good. I think that'd say pretty bad things about our programming skills if you did.”

TLB slunk back to her seat. That hug would've gone on longer if boss hadn't come in when he did. She hadn’t wanted to let go. But when the two were in the same room, interacting with either of them felt like choosing sides. But that was irrational. They didn’t hate each other _that_ much.

Their conversation was going well though. You couldn’t tell they disliked each other. The boss was smiling as he hovered around Freddy. Freddy was still stiff. He never relaxed around Mike. But he was smiling and making coffee. Wasn’t that a good sign?

“You really don’t need to do that,” the boss said. “I like my coffee black-”

“Liar,” and she couldn’t ignore the acid in his voice, “I’ve seen you make it.”

“Well, I, uh…” After a few seconds, her boss laughed and looked away from Freddy. “I’ll just… uh… be over here then.”

Over here meant by the TV. The boss turned it on with his phone. TLB sipped her coffee as he scrolled through the channels. He selected the news, of course, and sat down on the couch.

Freddy smiled at her as he went to the couch, her boss’s mug in paw. She returned the smile but dropped it when his back was turned. TLB closed her eyes, picturing the two moving in her head.

“Here you go, boss,” Freddy handed the mug over.

“Oh. Thanks Freddy.” Boss took the mug. Took a sip. “Wow. This is pretty good.”

“I learned from the best.” And he tried to hide the venom, he tried. TLB opened her eyes and looked to the couch. Freddy leaned on the couch by the boss’ head.

“So, what’s going on out there?” Freddy gestured with a paw to the TV. “I mean, outside the workshop.”

The boss sighed in exasperation. “Same old, same old…”

TLB tuned him out. She’d heard his rants before, and he wouldn’t tell Freddy stuff he wouldn’t understand. They’d decided how to discuss this stuff with the animatronics back in the planning stages. If anyone would stick to that plan, it was the boss.

She stared at the coffee in her mug between every sip. Her to-do list wasn’t longer than normal. Wasn’t like she could do anything right now anyway. Maybe update the blog. It’d be nice to talk about this success. She didn’t want to though. It was too bad the boss had come in. She’d almost forgotten the bad things about her job..

“TLB?” Freddy said. She looked up. Freddy was looking at her. “Do you need more coffee? You’re looking at your cup funny.”

Was she? That’s what she got for getting lost in thought. TLB shook her head.

“No, I’m fine. I still have a bit left. I was just thinking about what we have to do today.”

Freddy nodded his head. “Well, tell me when you need more. I’ll make you another cup.” He turned his head back to the TV, then looked back at her. “TLF should be waking up soon, right?”

“Uh,” that was the boss. He picked up his phone again. TLB leaned around Freddy to check the time that popped up on the TV screen. “Yup, in about fifteen minutes.” He put the phone down, and the time disappeared. “Of course, knowing F, he won’t get up for another hour.”

“Mmm.” Freddy sagged. “I don’t want his coffee going cold… Maybe I should wake him up.”

“He’ll scream,” TLB said, lips inches from her mug. The boss and Freddy looked at her, blinking. She blinked back. The chill in her voice had surprised her, too. “If you wake him up, I mean.” She had to cover that up, for Freddy’s sake. “He’s not easy to startle but he’s loud when you do.” TLB took a quick sip of her coffee. “It’s kind of funny, actually.”

“Hmm.” Freddy thought about it. “Well, I’ll make it anyway. Don’t got anything better to do.”

TLB looked at the table. Now she felt bad for him. No friends, no kids, nothing to do, nobody to help… He must get really bored. But she’d rather deal with him being bored than being…

“Besides,” Freddy walked back to the shrine. “If he takes too long, you can wake him up. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind that, right?”

She chuckled as Freddy passed the table, grinning at him.

“I don’t know about that.”

Something rippled behind her. The grin fell from her face. TLB twisted in her seat. Someone walked through the wall like she would walk through a door. She didn’t get a good look at them but she didn’t need to. The tension eased from her shoulders. She looked at the floor. The blood led into the wall, and vanished when she blinked.

So that’s where he went. TLB smiled.

“I don’t think I’ll need to, though.” She turned back around in her seat. “You should hurry, he’ll be here in five minutes.”

“What?” Freddy stopped what he was doing to look at her. “Why do you say that?”

“Trust her.” She looked at the boss just in time to see him face the TV again. He must’ve been watching her. The boss picked up his phone and flipped through the channels again. “She knows what she’s talking about.”

“Uhh…” Freddy looked between them, measuring spoon in paw. “Okay.” He shot her a weird look before going back to making TLF’s coffee.

TLB leaned back in her seat. The boss skipped through the nature documentaries and stopped on one of the 80s nostalgia channels. Of course. The commercials were on, showing off ancient technology, outdated fashion, and long-gone snack foods. She didn’t enjoy it as much anymore, but hey, it looked cool and the boss liked it. Freddy perked up too, humming along with the jingles like he knew them.

She took a big swig of her mug. Don’t get started on _that_ train of thought, she thought. Last thing she needed was to get paranoid about what else those ghosts could do to a robot.

Freddy set TLF’s mug down, and stopped. TLB felt the ripples and looked at him.

“What?”

“Shhh.” He listened, eyes narrowing, then looked at her.

She looked at the door. When she looked back at Freddy, he was smirking. He raised a finger to his lips. TLB and her boss watched as he slipped towards the door. The animatronic was huge, but silent. She looked at her boss. Did that bother him? Didn’t seem like it. He just set his mug down. She did too.

The Freddy team leader had a unique walk in the morning. No limping, just dragging all his weight across the floor. TLB swallowed a giggle. She could hear his bitter grumbling already. He was following the scent of coffee, complaining to her about before he’d even seen her in the flesh.

Freddy looked at the two humans, and waggled his ears and eyebrows. She looked at her boss as TLF’s grumbling reached her ears. Freddy tensed, grinned, and thrust his head out the door.

“Good morning!”

TLF shrieked. The hallway amplified the warbling pitch of the almost stereotypical NYC accent, and the thud of his body hitting the tile. Through her tears of laughter, TLB saw Freddy step outside to stand over TLF.

“Damn,” Freddy’s muffled voice somehow made it funnier. “They weren’t kidding when they said you could scream.”

“Freddy!” TLF wasn’t done yet. “What the hell! Why would you do that?! What’s wrong with you! I haven’t gotten enough sleep for this bullshit!”

TLB was having trouble breathing. Her boss beat the armrest of the couch as he laughed.

“Oh my god,” TLF’s accent was easier to hear when he wasn’t screeching. “Are B and the Boss in on this too?”

“Yes.” TLB struggled to contain herself as she heard Freddy help TLF stand. “They said you screamed really loud when you were started. I had to find out for myself. Sorry about that.”

“B did it,” Boss gasped out. “She’s-She’s the one who told him.”

“I did not!” She had to get a hold of herself. Death by laughter wasn’t _that_ appealing a way to go. “I mean- no, I mean I did, but I didn’t- I wasn’t-”

TLF looked around the door frame and pointed at her. “I’m gonna get you back for this TLB,” he said with a smile.

Freddy crossed his arms and gave TLF a smug smile. “And what about me? I’m the one who scared you.”

“Well, yeah, but you’re…” TLF shrugged his shoulders. “You.” His smile faded at the edges when he looked at Freddy. TLB glanced back down at her cup.

The animatronics really deserved better than this.

“I'm also the one who made you your coffee this morning.” Freddy led TLF into the room.

“You-” TLF’s head jerking as he looked around. “You-wait, you what?”

“Made you coffee,” Freddy plunked the mug into TLF’s hands. TLF stared at the rising steam.

“You-” he looked between Freddy and the mug. His eyes lit up. “But the boss never said anything about-”

“He asked me not to,” the boss had his back turned but had to be watching through the cameras on his phone. “Said he wanted it to be a surprise.”

“And I think it was a very good surprise,” Freddy said. “I even got a hug from TLB for it.”

“Yeah,” the boss dragged the vowel out. TLB cringed.

“So-” TLF said. “So you like-you made all this yourself? You didn't ask for help?”

“Nope!” Freddy shoook his head. “All I did was get the keys from the boss. They're on the end table by the way.” The coldness returned to Freddy’s voice when he spoke to the boss.

“Thanks. I already got them.” The boss took another sip of coffee.

“Hot damn!” TLF’s entire body jerked in delight. “And you, uh…”

“Made it just like you said you like it,” Freddy said.

“Wow.” TLF stared at Freddy. Maybe it was her imagination but he almost looked like he was going to cry. Then he said, “Well, better see if I coded ya right!” He raised his mug. Freddy waited.

TLF took a sip. He lowered the mug, eyes closed. Without letting go of the mug, he grabbed Freddy and hugged him tight. Freddy jumped, then smiled. One paw patted TLF on the back as he looked her way.

TLF pulled out of the hug. “We need to have you make this stuff more often!” He said.

“It’d be my pleasure to make it for you all!” Freddy said. “You’ll have to teach me how everyone likes their coffee though.”

“Yeah, no worries, I can do that!”

TLF started with the other team leaders. As he walked Freddy to the shrine, TLB looked at the door. Her friend stood by the old phone outlet. There was no change in his appearance. After all they’d tried he was still stuck in that old Freddy costume. Blood slipped between the joints and under the exoskeleton parts. The brown fabric was as clean as it had been when he was stuffed. He twitched sometimes, the memory of his nerves reliving what it was like to die.

And when he looked at her with eyes that no longer existed, TLB relaxed. A weight she forgot she carried lifted off her, and she smiled.

The dead night guard avoided the two at the counter as he headed to her. He glanced to the couch. When she followed his gaze, the boss turned away. That man had a damn good read on her, didn’t he?

“Hey, B!”

TLB looked at F. He’d set down the chocolate sauce. Behind him, Freddy opened up the fridge, milk jug in hand.

“Tell that friend ‘a yours to stop throwing shit at me in the mornin’.” TLF said. “Knocking off my books, pushing my phone onto my head - what does he think he is, a cat or somethin’?” He was smiling.

Freddy placed the milk in the refrigerator and turned around.

“Friend?”

TLB froze. She took a gulp of coffee, but it didn’t seem to get moisten her now dry mouth any. The boss picked up his phone again.  TLF fumbled for a few things that only the Foxy Team Leader used.

She looked at her friend. He didn’t speak anymore. The words he’d been given were hard to piece together. Since they’d gotten close, he just let her feel what he wanted her to know. But this time, he shook his head. Flesh squished beneath the suit.

TLB looked back at Freddy. The big bear stared a bit to the left of her friend. Freddy couldn’t see him do it, but the night guard stared back. He flexed the fingers of his suit. The child within Freddy didn’t wake up at the implied threat. Why didn’t that girl leave the animatronic like all the other kids did?

Freddy blinked at her. Right. She had to tell him something. Nobody else would. She forced a smile.

“It’s… kind of a long story,” TLB tapped her index finger on the table. “I won’t have time to explain until after work.”

“Oh,” Freddy’s muzzle dropped to a frown. “Okay.”

“Might be better to wait for the weekend,” Boss said without turning around. “TLB’s pretty frustrated about the errors in Bonnie’s code. We don’t want to increase her stress, do we?”

Freddy scowled at the Boss’ head. Her friend stepped closer, like he’d be able to stop Freddy somehow if he had to. TLB sighed. Freddy looked at her and she shrugged. The boss had a point, one she’d thank him for bringing up later. Freddy nodded.

“Alright. I guess it would be better to have Bonnie around anyway. I sure do miss him.” TLB smiled at that. Freddy pointed at her. “But don’t forget to tell me when the weekend comes, okay? I don’t like being left out of the loop. We’re family now, right?”

TLB nodded. “That’s right.”

TLF cleared his throat. “Speakin’  a’which, Freddy.”

“Yeah?” Freddy looked at TLF. TLF gestured to the counter.

“You ready for the hard part? X’s real picky about his coffee. Y’ gotta do it right or he’ll nag you about it the entire day.”

“Oh!” Freddy straightened up. “Sure I’m ready. Show me what to do!”

“Alright.” TLF stepped over so Freddy could stand beside him. “So first, you gotta…”

She tuned them out. Her friend relaxed, she could feel it in her own muscles, but his tension didn’t go away. When he looked at her, she let his thoughts roll over her.

They’d already established that he held no ill will against the animatronics themselves. Why would they? It wasn’t their fault. They weren’t alive then like they were now. They were simple machines, closer to a child’s speak-and-say than something with a brain. But it was still their hands that killed him. Their paws that forced the pieces of the suit onto, into, him. Their eyes that watched him die. Their processors that recorded their actions. Their faces were the last things he saw. And he’d idolized them, adored them, just like she had before all of this happened.

_How will you tell him about me? How will you tell him about you? Do you think he’s going to accept this?_

TLB let the venting roll over her, absorbing it without judgement. She didn’t have answers - yet. They had a few days to work out a plan. And she wouldn’t be alone with Freddy and give him a chance to try to satisfy his curiosity before the weekend. TLB raised the mug for another sip. She would figure things out before-

Something sweet and thick hit her tongue through the dredges of her drink. TLB jerked the mug back. Her friend moved to her side quick despite his pain. They stared as one at the bottom of the mug. TLB tilted it to get a better look. The coffee oozed to one side. She licked her lips, the taste still lingering on her tongue.

Honey.

She looked back up at Freddy. He focused on TLF, as if oblivious to everything but the way he poured three kinds of syrup in at the same time. But her nodded, blood squishing out from under the head of the suit. Freddy had seen. TLB swallowed.

She hadn’t told TLF everything about how she made her coffee. It’d been a down day, when the black hole was in her chest again. All she’d wanted was to disappear into sleep forever. But he’d insisted on making her a cup or ten to keep her going. She didn’t have the energy to keep saying no. At the time, it had felt like too much, asking him to put in everything she did. There was no special process, no refrigerated products, yet… She didn’t think she’d miss the honey. It was just one thing. She didn’t need it (deserve it). Anything to make it easier on him.

Of course she missed it. She stopped adding it because he told everyone her ‘preferences’. Got used to drinking it that way. But after she escaped that depressed state, she started adding it again. In secret. She didn’t want to try and explain to F why she’d left it out.

No wonder it had tasted so good.

“TLB?”

Freddy stepped away from the counter. TLF must’ve finished his lesson, because he was heading towards the couch. The animatronic was smiling at her.

“Want some more coffee?”

TLB didn’t answer. She reached out to her friend, but he didn’t answer. Through his silence, she felt her fear echoed by his.

Freddy was waiting. He tilted his head at her.

“I can make it the same way I did before, if you want me to.”

A knot formed in her stomach. Her grip on the mug tightened. The bear animatronic was just staring at her. Smiling at her. Like he hadn’t done anything wrong. Like there was - like everything was fine. But it wasn’t. He knew it wasn’t.

But it was fine at the same time. He was working just as intended. Every joint and servo and processor, all working as designed him to. And the child still slept. She’d never woken up once.

The boss had changed the channel to some stand-up playlist. TLF was laughing louder than Mike was. They couldn’t have heard Freddy over themselves.

TLB swallowed down the fear.

“Yeah.” She handed him the mug. “Please.”

**Author's Note:**

> Wozniak's Test, also known as the Coffee Test, was suggested by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak as a test of artificial general intelligence. In it, a machine goes into a home and makes coffee by finding the machine, the coffee grounds, and a mug, then add water to the coffee machine and press a button to start making the coffee. A machine that can successfully finish this test is considered a Strong AI. In laymen's terms, sentient.


End file.
